AN INTERNATIONAL consortium, including a team of Western Australian researchers, has finished mapping the complete barley genome.
The Western Barley Genetics Alliance, a partnership between the Wa Government’s Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) and Murdoch University, was a major contributor to the research, assisted by funds from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).
Alliance Director Chengdao Li, Murdoch University, said the WA-based group was among the elite group of international scientists who mapped two of the seven barley chromosomes.
Professor Li said the barley genome map pinpointed genetic information, from which molecular markers and genomic breeding tools could be developed to enhance future barley varieties.
“Mapping the barley genome effectively provides a ‘dictionary’ from which genetic ‘words’ and ‘sentences’ can be produced that identify the genes that control traits, such as yield, adaption to climate, quality and pest and disease tolerance,” he said.
Dr Li said the map was a major breakthrough considering the complex nature of the barley genome.
“Cereal crops, including bread wheat, durum, barley and rye, have some of the most complex genetic histories among the world’s cultivated species,” he said.
He said barley was the first cereal crop to be mapped in such detail
“To put the research into perspective, the barley genome is twelve times larger than the rice genome and more complex.”
The alliance worked in partnership with scientists from 10 countries participating in the Barley Genome Sequence Consortium, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Finland, Denmark, China, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland.
“This research was so large and complex that no single country had the capacity to complete it so an international collaboration was essential,” Professor Li said.
In the interests of furthering global science, the consortium intends to make the barley genome information publically available.
